Powerful Pages - Old Bones by Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child

Powerful Pages - Old Bones by Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child

Old Bones is the latest novel from Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child, two gifted authors who have made quite a name for themselves with their unique brand of fiction.  Combining mysteries a la Sir Arthur Conan Doyle with a flair for science and history that brings Michael Crichton to mind, they spin gripping yarns with morbid touches that would be perfectly at home in a horror novel.  It's a mixture that I and a great many others enjoy, though lately I have grown just a little fatigued with their Pendergast series.  This detour with two of their best heroines at the helm was like a breath of fresh air, and I had an absolute blast with it.  In Old Bones, an ill-fated attempt to dig up new insight into the woeful fate of the Donner Party is derailed by greed, deception, and cold-blooded murder.  A search for a rumored hidden treasure and a devious plot on a grand scale put Nora Kelly (a tough-as-nails archaeologist) and Corrie Swanson (a rebellious FBI agent working her first case) directly in the cross-hairs.  These strong women find themselves at odds from the word "Go," and a serious power struggle ensues. They'll have to iron things out quick, fast, and in a hurry if they want to survive, much less figure out why a bunch of old bones are worth killing for.  Given that the grim legacy of the Donner Party is a key element of the plot, Old Bones is a bit gruesome, and this dark vibe meshes nicely with a desolate setting and a difficult battle against the elements.  While the last act is thrilling and all of the various threads in a fairly intricate narrative are effectively tied off, I may have been hoping for a little more from the climax.  And I pegged the killer fairly early on, and for better or worse, that's something I tend to hold against whodunits.  Still, it's about the journey, and this one had me hooked.  It doesn't rank among this impressive duo's best works, but it is an intense addition to their catalog nonetheless.

Final Grade: B